Congressman Ron Paul has been quietly (but steadily) gaining in the polls and is a legitimate contender to win in both Iowa and New Hampshire. So if you're looking for an "electable" principled conservative, it's time to get serious about Ron Paul.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, long dismissed by the GOP establishment as a fringe candidate, has broadened his electoral appeal and emerged as a major player in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, according to several recent polls and conversations with a handful of longtime Hawkeye political operatives.

"He has certainly broadened his coalition from the 'rage against the machine' types that primarily comprised his supporters in 2008," said one senior Iowa Republican operative granted anonymity to speak candidly about Paul's prospects. "The expanded coalition includes more traditional activists — as a number of GOP county chairs have endorsed his campaign, as have a handful of legislators."

So, there is broad — if not unanimous — agreement that Paul has momentum in Iowa.

What is behind Paul's growing momentum? He's the most consistent and trustworthy Tea Party candidate.

In a February meeting of the tea party, caucus chair Rep. Michele Bachmann said, according to Politico: "It is my hope that the tea party caucus will serve as... the best way to get America on a sound fiscal path that adheres to the Constitutional principles on which she was founded."

This past summer, the tea party members fought so valiantly to keep the Obama administration from additional deficit spending, so much so that Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa) had the insensitivity to proclaim, "This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money." Not long after wrongfully being labeled terrorists, the tea party was bullied by statements from the Obama administration that Social Security and Medicare could be in danger if their persistence on limiting spending continued.

In the end what most of us know, and what the tea party knew back in February, is that spending is the disease that is causing America to lose credibility and economic prosperity -- not our $3 trillion in annual tax revenue. Social Security and Medicare checks would have still been sent, though perhaps we would have had to cut the $3 billion in annual foreign aid to Pakistan.

[O]nly one candidate for president offers a plan that seems to embody the heart and soul of the tea party caucus -- Texas Congressman Ron Paul and his Trillion Dollar plan.

The tea party members have always been mindfully focused on fiscal matters, and their gradual return to Paul's candidacy and spending plan is only beginning. If, or when, the time comes for Bachmann to withdrawal from the race, an endorsement of Paul's plan seems logical for the tea party Caucus chair; since she will need to maintain her fiscal validity with the tea party members in hopes of retaining their support in the future.

For too long, conservatives have faithfully fallen in-line only to play second-fiddle to the "leadership" of the Republican Party Establishment, and their loyalty has been repaid with an increasingly intrusive and exponentially growing bureaucratic state. Partisan loyalty has given us, in our once "land of the free," a massive social-democratic welfare state, perpetual war, unsustainable debt, and government-approved molestations at the airport.

But as more and more conservatives discover what it is about America they wish to conserve, they're finding Ron Paul to be the only candidate who genuinely wants to firmly adhere to conservative fiscal policy and protect our individual liberties.

Congressman Ron Paul is leading by a significant margin in Iowa, according to preliminary results of a new TeleResearch poll.

Factoring in both Republican caucus-goers and disaffected Democrats and Independents who’ve indicated that they will participate in the Iowa Republican Caucus, Ron Paul leads at 25%, with an approximate 4-point advantage over Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain.

Just like "flyover country," Ron Paul mystifies the mainstream consensus: [Drew Ivers, Paul's Iowa campaign chairman] says Paul's support in Iowa is 'textbook grass roots,' and includes independents, conservative Democrats and many Republicans new to the political process, most of them united by fears about the nation's economic future and 'spending, spending, spending' by the federal government."

With the most cross-ideological appeal of any candidate - Democratic or Republican - more than "electable," Ron Paul can win!

To outward appearances, it might seem as though the left and right have never been more at odds. And for the average man in the street, drawn to the Tea Party on one side or the Occupy movement on the other, this might be true. But it is not so true for elite opinion. The nation's high and mighty may be divided about many things, but on one point they often agree: Americans are still too darn free.

For example: Not enough people exercise their right to vote. Problem, right? Well, William Galston of the Brookings Institution has a solution: Force them to. The other day he took to the pages of The New York Times to explain why we should be "Telling Americans to Vote, or Else."

Mitt Romney [wants to force] every U.S. resident to carry a biometric ID card.

Michele Bachmann ... proposed forcing everyone to do so, even if they don't have any income to pay taxes on.

Time magazine proposed forcing every American into national service. A federal advisory board has decided, to much applause, that we should force boys as well as girls to receive the HPV vaccine. Proponents of Obamacare believe the government should force everyone to buy health insurance.

Last year Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told those at a National Press Club that the administration's "livability" initiative "is a way to coerce people out of their cars."

Jon Stewart is urging Ron Paul to become a typical Washington politician. It's true – during last night's "Daily Show" the comedian told GOP presidential hopeful Paul he would get a lot more attention if he just changed some of his positions by 180 degrees.

Stewart said he'd noticed that during GOP debates the other candidates spend lots of time yelling at each other about alleged changes on the issues, and that they ignore Paul while doing this, since he's pretty consistent.

A flip-flop would get Paul more televised face time, said Stewart.

A refreshing change from politics as usual, Ron Paul has a 20+ year voting record that shows a consistency and honesty that no other candidate can claim.

Thanks for linking to my post, Michael. I really do believe Ron Paul has a chance of winning the nomination. His campaign is much stronger than it is being credited for and his support is much broader than it was in 2008.

One other thing that may factor into this is the debacle of Herman Cain. It looks like his campaign is almost finished, so one has to wonder if Paul can influence some of his supporters to come over to our camp.

http://www.sentryjournal.com/ John Carey

Thanks for linking to me CL. I wish more conservatives would wake up an realize that the Newt and Romney are nothing more than big government solution candidates. They claim to want to restore the constitution and yet they throw their support behind these two candidates who have zero intentions of restoring the constitution. It absolutely mind boggling to me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Single-Acts-Tyranny-Stuart-Fairney/dp/0956001602/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321993638&sr=8-1 Single Acts of Tyranny

In truth, I see any GOP candidate other than Dr Paul as status quo 'business as usual' types and that may not be what America needs right now.